


We Came, We Saw, We Loved

by Browneyesparker



Series: Bughead Stories [16]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Holidays, Hurt/Comfort, Riverdale, Romance, Valentine's Day, bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-09 03:52:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13473126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browneyesparker/pseuds/Browneyesparker
Summary: Jughead’s heart stops beating for a second and the pesky butterflies that are a constant in his stomach whenever she is around start flapping their wings even harder.orJughead and Betty spend Valentine's Day together over the years.





	1. Chapter 1 "I Love You More Than I've Ever Found A Way To Say To You"

**.**

**Chapter 1**

_“i love you more_  
_than I’ve ever found a way_  
_to say to you. . .”_

**ben Folds, the luckiest**

Jughead Jones sinks down in his chair, avoiding the construction paper and cardboard mailbox in front of him while his classmates are busy ripping open whatever Valentines their moms bought and signed for them. He’s not at all enthused even though there _are_ cookies and candy and punch with Sprite _and_ ice cream in it. He just hates any kind of holiday, they all end the same way. With his parents arguing.

He sighs and taps his fingers on his desk, waiting to get back to school work when Betty Cooper comes up to him, with a bubblegum Dum Dum, she studies him and then sighs. “Aren’t you going to open your cards, Juggie?” she asks.

“I don’t feel like it,” Jughead answers.

She frowns, her blonde eyebrows furrow and his heart skips a beat because he realizes he said something to upset her.

She sighs again. “Okay but I worked really, really, _really_ hard on my card for you and I just want to know if you liked it or not.”

Jughead doesn’t have to open it to know that he’ll _love_ it because as far as he’s concerned, Betty hung the frigging stars. But it doesn’t stop him from opening the lid of his mailbox and shuffling through the mess of envelopes until he finds a pink one with his name on it in her handwriting in glittery gel pen.

He opens it carefully and pulls out a hand drawn card with Wall-E and Eva on it except Wall-E is wearing a crown beanie and Eva has a pink bow hovering over her head. Inside she had written a quote from a book they were reading for school.

_“Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks, not in what they say. Just in the way they are.”_

Jughead’s heart stops beating for a second and the pesky butterflies that are a constant in his stomach whenever she is around start flapping their wings even harder.

“Do you like it?” she asks.

“Yeah! Yeah, I _love_ it!” Jughead answers even though boys his age don’t usually answer like that. “Um, listen. . . I didn’t do anything for you. Yet.”

“Oh. . . that’s okay!” Betty says dismissively. “You don’t have to do anything for me, I understand!”

It doesn’t stop him from going home after school’s done and taking whatever money he has left from the metal tackle box underneath his bed. He explains what’s going on to his mother and she drives him to the grocery store where he buys some deflated, discounted red and pink carnations and the smallest teddy bear that they have to offer. Gladys cuts out a white construction and in ballpoint pen, Jughead writes his reply to Betty.

_“Sometimes the smallest things take up room in your heart.”_

After he’s signed his name on the card, he starts to have second thoughts about going over to see her. His Valentine’s Day offering is meager.

“You should,” Gladys encourages him. “Come on Juggie, what’s the worst that can happen? Alice might be sugar free this week. But Betty? Betty’s as sweet as angel food cake, she’s not going to reject your gift or make fun of you.”

“She _likes_ Archie!” Jughead informs her mournfully.

“She likes you too,” Gladys assures him.

“No mom, she likes _likes_ Archie!”

“Ah, I see!”

Jughead is 100 percent certain she _doesn’t_ actually _‘see’_ because mothers just really don’t get it.

“This is a dumb idea,” he mutters.

“Juggie, I can promise you that Archie Andrews isn’t going to be the last chapter in her love story. He might not even be her first,” Gladys says. “You guys are all still _so_ young. . . come on, we’re going to give her the gift you bought for her. I am not going to let you let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”

Jughead’s a little confused by what she means but he follows her out to the station wagon and climbs into the front seat while she straps Jellybean into her car seat and they drive across town to the Northside with his mother singing along to Bruce Springsteen. As their car inches closer and closer to the Cooper residence, his heart starts to beat faster and faster. His palms get sweatier and sweatier.

When they pull onto the familiar street, he is ready to jump out of the car and run home. But he knows his mom will be able to catch up with him and that she’ll make him go through with handing his pathetic Valentine over to Betty. It is better not to prolong the inevitable any longer than he has to.

Gladys parks in front of the big white house and Jughead can see Betty at the window, sitting in front of her piano. Her blonde hair is pulled back and she looks like she’s concentrating hard on the sheet music in front of her.

“Go on,” Gladys encourages, turning the key to the left in the ignition.

Jughead gets out slowly. It feels like it takes a million years to get to her front porch, he can hear Betty stumbling through the first few notes of _Clair De Lune_ and see her huff in frustration when she hits the wrong note. He pauses for a second and then slowly rings the bell. The piano playing stops and she stands up, peeking out of the living room curtains before going to answer the door.

She smiles widely. “Hi Juggie! Is everything okay?” she asks.

“Um. . . yeah, everything’s fine!” Jughead answers.

“Is there anything I can do for you?”

For a second, Jughead considers lying and telling her that he needs help with some homework. That he forgot to write down an assignment but he is as diligent as her when it comes to school, so he _knows_ she won’t believe him.

He thrusts out the bag, the flowers, and the card to her. “I-I forgot to give you a Valentine at school today,” he says.

Betty smiles. “That’s okay Juggie. . .”

“No, I’m giving it to you _now_!” He says.

“Oh. . . _oh_. . .” Betty is suddenly very aware that his hands are full and she blushes. “You didn’t have to do all this for me. I only gave you a card. . .”

“I wanted to!” Jughead assures her, not adding on that he likes her best out of anybody he knows and that includes Archie even though he _is_ his best friend ever.

Betty takes the gifts for him before putting them down gently on the porch to give him a hug. “Thank you!” she says and it’s Jughead’s turn to blush.

“No problem!” He says patting her on the back because he feels awkward and he hadn’t planned anything past chucking his Valentine at her and running away as fast as he can without having to face her reaction. But now he’s frozen in place, unsure of what to do next because even though he’s watched Disney Channel Original movies (mostly by her urging), this is real life and he’s pretty sure this particular scene doesn’t end in a kiss and there is no script prompting him with the right thing to say or do next.

He wishes he’d planned it out better.

Or that he hadn’t let his mom talk him into coming at all.

He wishes for an out except she kisses his cheek and invites him in for M&M cookies and Gladys says yes, promising to pick him up later.

He doesn’t know what to do next but he thinks they both handle it pretty well.

**TBC. . .**

**.**


	2. Chapter 2 ‘Cause here I am, I’m giving all I can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somewhere In Time is playing on loop on a local television station while Jughead makes pita bread pizzas and Betty holds a bag of frozen peas to her head because she has a migraine and she’s spent most of the day crying. Not only did Archie completely forgotten about their little ritual of Hershey kisses and heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes at Betty’s house, he’d asked another girl to be his actual Valentine with a high school hallway filled with rose petals and a horribly written song about how her dark eyes shone brighter than the Festival of the Dead lanterns.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> youbuildmeupbeliever, jandjsalmon, las6212, bugheadotp, deciding, Jiffermac, tinnie, thesouthside, and heartunsettledsoul your support blew me away!

**.**

**Chapter 2 ‘Cause here I am, I’m giving all I can**

_Somewhere In Time_ is playing on loop on a local television station while Jughead makes pita bread pizzas and Betty holds a bag of frozen peas to her head because she has a migraine and she’s spent most of the day crying. Not only did Archie completely forgotten about their little ritual of Hershey kisses and heart-shaped chocolate chip pancakes at Betty’s house, he’d asked another girl to be his actual Valentine with a high school hallway filled with rose petals and a horribly written song about how her dark eyes shone brighter than the Festival of the Dead lanterns.

Veronica, fairly new to town had been unaware of Betty’s well-concealed feelings for the red-headed Troy Bolton, had said yes to his request.

Betty was left with literal hearts on her sleeves and a very unspoken, heartfelt confession. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen Archie ride off into the sunset with somebody else but it was the first time it felt final. It was the first time she realizes that she had never been a competitor for his heart.

“I’ll be your Valentine this year,” Jughead tells her as he switches out her peas for corn and then sits down, she rests her head in his lap and he massages her temples.

She releases a shuddery sigh. “You’re my Valentine every year,” she replies as she turns her head and watches Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeves meet for the very first time in the past. The crying has ceased for the time being but she’ll probably be in the tears again by the end of the night.

Jughead wants to take away the ache in her heart. He wants to tell her. . . but then, he doesn’t want to spoil a perfectly good evening or their traditions of personalized pizzas and Hallmark movies even though the trailer park doesn’t have cable, so they’ll probably watch Somewhere In Time twice before she has to go home.

She leans into him and he can hear her sniffing, he reaches for the generic Kleenex his mom keeps near the couch and hands her a wad of them.

“I think the pizzas are done,” she tells him as she wipes her face and then blows her nose.

Jughead gets up and takes their dinner out from under the broiler and puts them on paper plates. He pours two glasses of Coke and gets a couple of Advil for Betty because she probably hadn’t taken anything for her migraine yet.

She takes the pills and soda gratefully, swallows and sighs as he hands her a plate and sits back down next to her. She settles into him, resting her head on his shoulder and tries to get lost in another world where real life doesn’t matter.

Except he can’t concentrate, doesn’t watch the movie really because she smells sweet and she’s pressed up against him. He almost (ALMOST) can’t eat, his stomach is so tied up in knots.

It’s not fair, he thinks in the middle of the second viewing of Somewhere In Time.

“What’s not fair?” Betty asks as she adjusts herself.

Jughead blanches when he realizes he was actually thinking aloud. A million and one lies enter his mind but the truth slips off his tongue unbidden.

“It isn’t fair that you love Archie and I love you.”

Betty freezes, stiffens but she doesn’t make any attempt to push herself away from him. To make eye contact with him and it’s a horrible silent few seconds. He cannot imagine what’s going through her mind or what she’s going to say but he knows he knows it won’t play in his favor.

He’s never deluded himself into thinking she loved him back. Even in his wildest dreams, he never could imagine a future where he got the girl. He would never allow himself to imagine a future where he got the girl.

Betty extracts herself from the couch and starts to pace back and forth. Finally, she looks at him, on the verge of tears again. “How!?” she asks. “How could you love me? Why would you even tell me how you felt? It-it ruins everything!”

Jughead stood up and strode towards her until they were standing face-to-face. “Because, you deserve to hear somebody loves you! You deserve to know there’s somebody who thinks about you that way! And I, I deserve to say it! I didn’t mean for it to come out like this. You weren’t ever supposed to know, I said it out loud by accident but I am not going to take it back!

“Elizabeth Cooper, I love you! I’ve loved you since the very first day I saw you and I didn’t know what it was. I loved you the day you gave me that Wall-E and Eva Valentine and the night you showed up when my father went to rehab. I will love you in a few seconds when you tell me that I don’t have a chance in hell and I will love you next week at school when it’s awkward—”

“Juggie. . .” Betty sniffed and swiped at her damp cheeks. “Jughead, I am so sorry! I love you. I really do but—”

“I’m not Archie,” Jughead finishes for her, his shoulders deflating.

“I’m sorry,” Betty repeats as she sits down on the floor and puts her Keds on. She gets her coat and gives him one last look before she bolts. “I’m so sorry!”

“What’s wrong with Betty?” Gladys asks as she and FP help a sleepy looking Jellybean inside the trailer, there’s a smear of chocolate on her cheek and Jughead looks away. “Maybe I should go and follow her, she shouldn’t be running through the Southside after dark. . .”

“What did you say to upset her, son?” FP asks as he helps Jellybean out of her coat and hangs it on the hook by the door.

“I told her how I felt,” Jughead answers. “It was an accident the first time but then I said it the second time on purpose. She felt bad because Archie was out with somebody who wasn’t her. . . again and I wanted her to know, somebody loved her. She reacted exactly like I thought she would.”

“She could still outgrow Archie,” Gladys tells him as she goes over to him and gives him a hug. “You just need to give her a little more time. Loving him is all she knows and now she has options.”

“She’s never going to choose me.”

He notices the way his parents exchange looks like they are trying to decide what to do or say next. But nothing happens except for Gladys saying she’s going to find Betty to take her home and FP whisking Jellybean off to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Jughead feels a strange mixture of relief and disappointment. He wants to be left alone to wallow in the misery of unrequited love but at the same time, he wants to hear positive affirmations. Something his mom read in a parenting magazine, or his dad heard when he was watching Dr. Phil.

His phone buzzes and he wrenches it out of his pocket. There’s a series of messages from Archie telling him how wonderful his date was, how he thinks he’s in love with Veronica Lodge, and an afterthought text asking about how his evening with Betty went.

Jughead leaves him on read even though Archie hates unanswered text messages but he doesn’t have anything to say to him.

He crawls into bed with a weight in his chest and turns off his phone in case Betty decides to try and text him with another apology. He cannot deal with her being sorry, mostly because she doesn’t have anything to be sorry about. He knows she doesn’t love him like that. . . he knew and he had still told her how he felt about her.

The phrase it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all crosses his mind and he wonders what idiot came up with it. He thinks it would have been better to have never loved Betty because he cannot deal with the lost part. There is no way she’ll be his friend anymore even if it means having to sit and watch Archie with the new love of his life. She will be the silent sufferer while his silence is a little louder.

He puts his earbuds in and drifts in and out of sleep until he hears tapping at his window. It’s the signal he worked out with Betty when they were little kids and one of them was grounded and they still wanted to see each other. He sits up, disoriented and stumbles out of bed, he pulls the curtains open and rubs the grit out of his eyes.

Her hair is disheveled and her face is blotchy, her eyes are puffy and her nose is red. She’s wearing a t-shirt from their school production of “Carrie: the Musical” underneath her winter coat. She looks a lot worse than she did a few hours before and he knows it’s his fault this time. It makes him feel sick to his stomach, he never ever wanted to be the one to make her cry.

She opens her mouth to say something and her lips move wordlessly before she closes it. What she does next completely blindsides him.

She kisses him.

Betty Cooper is kissing him!

It takes him a second to react and when he realizes he is not dreaming, he slides his hand up on the nape of her neck and tries to commit what kissing his best friend is like. The way he can taste her cinnamon and her cherry Chapstick. He needs to tuck away what it feels like just in case it never happens again.

“I-I had to see what it was like,” she tells him, her cheeks pink as she pushes his window open a little further and wiggles her way into his room, he pulls her the rest of the way in and she sheds her coat and sits on the edge of his mattress, watching him.

Jughead wants to know what she thinks. Knows she doesn’t have anyone else to measure it by because up until a few seconds ago, they were two of three people at Riverdale High who hadn’t been kissed yet. But he doesn’t want to be that kind of guy. . .

. . .the kind of guy who wonders how he’s performing (even though he’s pretty sure that has to do with prowess in the bedroom and not kissing stuff).

He sits down beside her, a little closer than he usually does. She sighs, deeply and puts her head on his shoulder.

“I’ve always wanted to see what it was like,” he says.

“I thought it would be like kissing Chic,” she replies. “But it wasn’t. . . it was nice. You’re a good kisser, Juggie. Have you been practicing?”

Jughead laughs. “Practicing? Who would I practice with? It’s not like girls are lining up around my locker to go out on dates with me and even if they were. . .”

“Even if they were, what, Juggie?” Betty presses when he trails off.

“Even if they were. . . I’d only want you,” Jughead answers, the confession settles like lead in his belly.

Betty takes her sneakers and socks off, lies down in his bed like she’s done so many times before. He joins her, pulls the covers over them, and they curl into each other just like they’ve done a million and one times before. Their knees meet in the middle. She takes his hand and rubs her thumb over his knuckles.

“Sleep,” she says, taking his iPod and putting one of his headphones in her ear and the other one in his.

She whispers Happy Valentine’s Day to him, puts on some classical playlist curated by Spotify for resting and together they drift off on a wave of music.

**TBC.**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I tried to make it angsty but I can never end things on a sour note. So, I’m ending it on a question mark and with the hope that there’s something going to happen in the future. I hope you liked this chapter and that you’ll tell me what you thought! Looking forward to hearing from you!
> 
> Until Next Time!


	3. Chapter 3 Just Say Yes Because I’m Aching, I know You Are Too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jandjsalmon, deciding, bugheadotp, tinnie, Las6212, and InAFlash18 thank you for your thoughts about the last chapter!

**.**

_“If you love someone, you tell them._  
Even if you’re scared that it’s not the right thing.  
Even if you’re scared it’ll cause problems. Even  
if you’re scared that it will burn your life to the ground, you say it, and you say it loud  
and you go from there.”

**mark sloane, grey’s anatomy**

**C** **hapter 3 Just Say Yes Because I’m Aching, I know You Are Too**

“Are you finally going to stop dancing around each other and get together?” Veronica askes Betty.

Betty sighs and plays with the red ribbon in her hair. “I don’t know, V. It’s not like said it again since last year. Maybe I’ve let it go for too long.”

“ _Please!_ It’s not like he’s friends with benefits with anybody else!” Veronica says as she closes her locker door. “Unless you were making out with somebody else in front of the Pembrook last Friday night.”

“We are _not_ friends with benefits!” Betty informs her. “That would imply we were. . . and we’re not.”

“Friends with partial benefits than,” Veronica corrects herself/

“It’s been 364 days,” Betty muses. “364 days since he told me that he loves me and he hasn’t said it since and he’s had plenty of opportunities to say it again.”

They have spent a whole year together almost like boyfriend and girlfriend. There hasn’t been anyone else but they haven’t put a name to it. She thinks about Jughead’s kisses, his hands underneath her winter coat and how he makes her forget that Archie Andrews will never be more than just a friend. But she still didn’t think she loved him, not the way he loved her. Until she woke up one morning and realized she did.

“Here’s a novel idea,” Kevin interjects into her thoughts. “Why don’t _you_ just tell _him_? It’s the 21st century, a girl can say it first. I know exactly what you need to do! Make a romantic dinner and invite him over to your house! You can tell him after you’ve eaten.”

“It’s a good idea but my dad and mom aren’t going out tonight,” Betty answers.

“My dad and mom are going to New York this afternoon!” Veronica tells her as she opens her purse and takes a key out. “Archie’s taking me to a Selena Gomez concert in Greendale. You can have the Pembrooke if you’d like! I’ll let Marvin know the two of you are going to use the apartment. You just have to promise you’ll tell him how you feel. Don’t worry about making pretty speeches just say it right out or the moment will pass you by.”

Betty considers Veronica’s offer. Romantic dinners are not their speed, Jughead usually just makes Pita bread pizzas and they watch a movie. It’s a long-standing tradition. . . and what they would have done when they were just friends.

She needs to let him know that this isn’t business as usual. She takes the key and promises to tell Jughead how she feels. She finds him in the Blue & Gold and instructs him to meet her at Veronica’s place at 6pm.

“We’re not doing the same thing as usual?” he asks, looking slightly confused.

“Not this year,” Betty says, pressing a kiss on the corner of his mouth. “This year, we’re doing something a little different.”

“Something a little different?” Jughead repeats, a look of fear flits across

“Sometimes something a little different can be a good thing,” Betty tells him.

When school is over, she stops by her favorite consignment shop and spends a good amount of time trying on dresses before settling on a strapless, bubblegum pink one with a tulle skirt. Next she runs across the street to the grocery store and fills her shopping cart with the ingredients for Jughead’s second favorite meal and chocolate cupcakes. She buys a dozen roses and candles for the table.

**.**

By the time she’s gotten everything on the table and put some music on, she has just enough time to change into her dress and put on a refresher coat of lipstick. There’s a knock, so she pulls her hair out, prays there isn’t any lumps from her hair piece before opening the door.

Even though she _knows_ Jughead will be the one standing in the threshold, her heart still skips a beat. He’s smiling at her and wearing a tie and blazer from the time he took her to homecoming. He has something tucked under his arm, it’s wrapped in pink paper with red hearts.

“Come on in!” Betty says.

“Hi,” Jughead answers, kissing her on the cheek. “You look pretty.”

The butterflies that have taken up residence in her stomach flutter a little. “You look nice too! I made your favorite,” she tells him. “Homemade mac & cheese and chocolate cupcakes for dessert. It’s almost ready. Would you like something to drink? Veronica left a bottle of champagne for us. But we don’t need to drink it, I brought sparkling white grape juice and Coca-Cola.”

“I’ll have Coke,” Jughead replies. “I’m pretty sure Hiram Lodge isn’t buying bottom shelf alcohol. We wouldn’t want him to miss anything.”

Betty unscrews the lid from the Coke and the soda hisses at her. She pours a generous amount in a large wine glass and hands it to him. “I’m sure Veronica doesn’t think about that sort of stuff.”

Jughead leans against the counter. “So, why the sudden change in our yearly tradition? This isn’t the part where you tell me that it’s been nice but you’ve found somebody else. Is it?”

Betty rolls her eyes. “Jughead, I haven’t had _time_ for anyone else. I spend all my time with you or doing extra-curricular activities when I’m not in school.”

“So, what’s it about then?”

Betty busies herself pulling the mac & cheese from the oven and doesn’t answer him. Just in case he doesn’t reciprocate her feelings anymore, she doesn’t want to eat dinner alone. It occurs to her that she could just leave it for Veronica and Archie when they get home from Greendale but she can’t seem to force the words out of her throat.

“Are you hungry?” she asks.

“Do you have to ask?” Jughead replies.

She serves them both generous helpings in the Lodge’s third best dinnerware and they retreat to the dining room. She seats him at the head and sits down to his left, she can barely touch her food but he is ravenous.

“You make the _best_ mac & cheese,” he tells her.

“You’ve been saying that since we were in 8th grade,” Betty replies.

“Well, I’ve meant it ever since then.”

Betty smiles despite the knots forming in her stomach and silence passes between them except for the faint strains of a Nat King Cole song playing in the kitchen. She’s usually comfortable with the quiet when he is around but her thoughts are echoing too loudly in her head.

She wishes that she knew what Jughead was thinking and feeling those years between the not telling her how he felt. The moments before he blurted out it wasn’t fair that she loved Archie and he loved her. What he’s thinking now.

She wishes she knew how to let her guard down for a few seconds to blurt out what _she’s_ thinking. What she’s feeling. But she is Alice Cooper’s daughter. Everything is measured, everything is calculated. . . she can’t make one wrong move.

“Everything okay, Betts? You’re awfully quiet,” Jughead says.

Betty smiles at him. “Everything is fine.”

Jughead puts his hand on her wrist. “You can tell me anything. You know that right?”

“Of course!” Betty answer, nodding.

They finish eating. They clean the kitchen together and after they put away the leftovers for Archie and Veronica, they go in the living room. Jughead, a Boy Scout from reading the manual only, lights a fire for them and changes the curated Spotify playlist to a Bruce Springsteen song.

He comes over to Betty, who is unbuckling her Mary Janes, and holds out his hand for her.

“Dance with me.”

Betty slips out of her shoes and accepts his offer. They sway back and forth to a song from _Jerry Maguire_ and she buries her face in his shoulder. Breathes in the distinct smell of Dial soap, off-brand Downy, and French fries. It takes her breath away, renders her speechless. She doesn’t know how she got so lucky to have Jughead Jones in her life. To have him in her life even now, all these years later since the first day they met.

She closes her eyes and thanks the God she hears about every Sunday at the local Catholic church for the existence of the boy holding her. For orchestrating their meeting.

“This song was playing in my mom’s car,” Jughead tells her. “That first Valentine’s Day my mom brought me over to your house, this was the song playing. It makes me think about you every time I hear it. Especially now.”

Betty pulls away and looks at him. “Jughead—”

“I have something for you,” Jughead says, releasing her as the last notes of the song play from her iPhone. “Hold on.”

He comes back with the package he left on the table in the foyer and gives it to her. It’s slimmer than a box of chocolates, slimmer than the copy of _Beloved_ he gave her as a Christmas present a couple of months earlier. She slides her fingernail underneath the tape and paper, pulls it away.

It’s a skinny hardcover book in a pretty shade of pink and the title is embossed in gold on the cover.

 _“Love Letters From Great Men,”_ Betty reads aloud.

“I found it at a second-hand bookstore,” Jughead says. “There’s a lot of things in those pages that I’ve wanted to say to you this past year but haven’t because—”

She cuts him off with a kiss. “I love you.”

Jughead looks stunned. “What?”

“I love you!” Betty repeats.

“I-how do you love me?” Jughead asks. “Because when you said you loved me last year, it wasn’t the same way I loved you—”

“But now I do,” Betty says. “I realize it may be too late because you haven’t said it again since that night but I’ve never had the best timing and you deserve to hear it. So, I love you and it’s not going away.”

Jughead laughs. “Do you think that _I_ stopped? I have spent almost every day with you these past 354 days. There is no way I stopped. . . if anything, I think I love you more now than I did last year and if I had to lose you now, I don’t think I could bear it. I have gotten so used to having you with me.”

Betty releases a breath she doesn’t know she was holding. It feels like a tremendous burden has been lifted from her shoulders and her heart. “I love you,” she says with a little more confidence.

He kisses her again. “I love you too.” he pulls away and grins at her. “You know, this was kind of a better Valentine’s Day date than last year. This year is a little more certain.”

Betty laughs. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Juggie.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Betty,” Jughead says as he starts to dance with her again.

He spends the rest of the night dancing with her, he doesn’t think he’ll stop.

**TBC. . .**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was brought to you by “Just Say Yes” by Snow Patrol. On a side note, can you believe this story is going to be done NEXT week? I will try and make it the best one out of all of them given the hiatus. Tell me what you thought about this chapter! I have a fraction of “Hello Darkness My Old Friend” written but might put it on hiatus for the holiday because I would still like to write something SMALL for Mileven. We’ll see what happens!
> 
> Until Next Time!


	4. Chapter 4 I See My Future In Your Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A special thanks to Lormenari, Cherlynne, EarthLaughsInFlowers, tinnie, jandjsalmon, Las6212, and poehlaris for their reviews and to everybody who kudoed this story. My love goes out to you all.

**.**

_“I have_  
found the  
one whom  
my soul loves.”

**Song of Solomon, 3:4**

**Chapter 4 I See My Future In Your Eyes**

It’s been a long day. Betty has spent most of it overseeing an intimate, boudoir shoot with Zayn Malik and Gigi Hadid for _Vanity Fair_. She’s ready to go home and take a hot bath, slip into something a little more comfortable than her fitted pencil skirt, and high heels.

She’s looking forward to seeing what Jughead has in store for them, he’s been teasing a Valentine’s Day surprise all week long. Everyone, including the two superstars who have been under her supervision for the majority of the day, thinks he’s going to propose to her.

Betty is not so sure.

They’ve been an _us_ longer than they were _just friends_ but marriage has never come up in any of their conversations.

She is not opposed to becoming _Mrs. Jughead Jones_ , she even thinks about how nice Elizabeth _Jones_ would look on a nameplate in her office. She’d _love_ being his wife. But she’s not going to be like Veronica did with Archie and drop anvil sized hints until Jughead finally puts a ring on it.

Betty unlocks their apartment door. There are signs that Jughead is home from his job at _the New Yorker_. There’s music on the stereo, the sounds of dinner being made in the kitchen.

 

“I was expecting you!” Jughead calls as she throws her keys in the bowl on the table in the entryway, slips out of her pink, wool coat and hangs it up in the closet. He comes out of the kitchen, his shirt sleeves are rolled up and he has a glass of champagne. “Go and unwind, I’ll get you when dinner’s ready.”

Betty does as she is told, giving him a kiss as she passes him. “I love you,” she says.

He grins. “I love you too.”

**.**

There dinner is a little more sophisticated than the pita bread pizza and the mac & cheese fare of Valentine’s Day dinners past. Betty wonders what Jughead has planned for the night as she sits down at the table and mentally ticks off all the things going on around the city.

 

Although not his first choice, Jughead writes for the arts & performance section of _the New Yorker_. A lot of their dates are at the theater, the ballet, or the opera.

She usually enjoys it more than he does.

“Do we have to go to an opening show tonight or something?” she asks as she sits down and he pours her another glass of champagne.

“No. We’re just staying in tonight,” Jughead replies. “I hope that’s okay with you.”

“Staying in sounds _perfect_ ,” Betty assures him, her eyes landing on one of the first Valentine’s she ever gave him. The one where she was Eve and he was Wall-E. She picks it up and opens it, reads her first grade scrawl. A quote from _the Book Thief_. “Where did you find this?”

“I had my mother send it to me,” Jughead answers.

“You’ve saved it even after all these years?”

“Of course!” Jughead serves her a chicken breast and roasted potatoes. “I’ve saved everything you’ve given me over the years.”

“Pack rat,” Betty says affectionately.

Jughead grins. “I might need all of it one day! But today, I just needed the card. It was one of our greatest hits. The day you gave me it, I told my mom that there was no way you’d ever like me because of Archie. She told me that he wasn’t the last chapter in your love story and she was right.”

“He barely even had a page,” Betty says.

Jughead nods. “I know. I-I never allowed myself to imagine that _we’d_ have a love story though. Not even during that one year after I told you that I loved you, I knew it could all go away because--”

“You weren’t sure of how I felt,” Betty finishes for him. “I’ll admit, when I was younger, I couldn’t imagine us together. But now, I can’t imagine my life without you.”

“Me either,” Jughead replies. “That’s why I was wondering. . .”

Betty’s heart stops. “Oh my gosh!”

He’s kneeling on one knee in front of her, holding a beautiful diamond ring between his thumb and pointer finger. “I’d love it if you would marry me. You will, won’t you?”

Betty nods, wordlessly. She can’t believe everybody around her called it better than she did. She’ll probably have to turn in her Nancy Drew detective guide because the mystery of Jughead’s big surprise has eluded her.

Of course, sometimes, he can be unpredictable. Like the time he blurted out he loved her while they watched _Somewhere In Time_. She still hadn’t seen it coming, not even after all the years they’d been a couple.

“Yes,” she finally answers. “Yes! I will marry you! Did you actually think I was going to say _no_!?”

Jughead looks relieved as he takes her hand and slips the ring on her finger. She helps him stand up, wraps her arms around him, and smiles at him. Dinner is momentarily forgotten as she thinks about their future. About wedding veils and Catholic cathedrals and first dances as husband and wife.

Jughead for his part cannot imagine his life without Betty. He’s gotten used to having her around. To the large box of Efferdent for her retainers, her endless collection of romantic comedies mixed up with his Alfred Hitchcock. The things he never allowed himself to dream about have become a reality. The way pink and bejeweled Peter Pan collars and sundresses has taken over his wardrobe or the way she likes to reenact scenes from movies just for fun.

He never thought he was the marrying type, she’s certainly not the nagging type. She never reads _Modern Bride_ in front of him or leaves jewelry catalogues near the coffee maker, open to the pages with her favorite ring. He came up with the idea of getting hitched all by himself, when he was helping Archie pick out a birthday present for Veronica.

He saw a ring that he couldn’t imagine anyone else but Betty wearing and the rest was history.

After deciding he would ask her to marry him, the worst part was the waiting. It took everything in him not to stop by her work and pop the question right then and there.

But. . .

Valentine’s Day was their _special_ day, the day the most important things in the history of them happened. So, it felt fitting to wait until then to ask her to marry him. It felt like good luck.

He put his arms around her and scooted her into their living room, sweeping her into a decade old dance. He couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her.

**The End**

**.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not quite the epic ending that I promised you last week but I have a dozen things on my mind, so I do hope you can forgive me. Thank you for sticking with me on this four week journey. I hope you’ll review one more time. I hope you all have a very Happy Valentine’s Day. I’ll be back with more soon!

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a 4-shot, hopefully I’ll post the last chapter on actual Valentine’s Day (which is also Lent for me, more proof that God has a sense of humor!) I love the holidays, so any excuse to post stories related to them! The quotes Jughead and Betty give each other are from Winnie the Pooh and The Book Thief. I just read the latter last week and I am obsessed and I accidentally keep mentioning it in fan fiction. ANYWAYS. Be back on Friday with the next chapter in “Hello Darkness My Old Friend”. In the meantime, I hope you’ll leave some feedback on this!
> 
> Until Next Time!


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